I’m asking because I tested recently at 579. The place I went to said since I’m under 650 I’d qualify for TRT, and they’d keep me right around 800. The symptoms I notice most are low sex drive but I’m also wondering if it’s preventing me from gaining muscle/losing fat as well as I could be. It seems as I’m cutting I’m losing weight but not noticing a huge change in body composition, leading me to think I may be losing muscle, as well. I know some muscle loss can happen but I’ve been on Matador (2 weeks @ 70% maintenance / 2 weeks maintenance / repeat) to prevent this. Any thoughts?
Will do. So what makes you say that? Could you elaborate?
They want your money. Period.
You don’t need TRT.
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I have no doubt they want my money. I also know something is causing the low sex drive and all my other blood work was good
Cutting = losing bodyfat = change in body composition, not understanding what else you expect here.
You’re probably not losing muscle unless if under 10% BF.
MATADOR is a solid protocol, likely about as good as it gets - good choice.
lol nice BUT…
I don’t think you’re a candidate for TRT. You only started getting these symptoms while cutting, right? Finish your cut, go into maintenance or a slight surplus, wait 2-3 months (in combination with proper diet, exercise and SLEEP), then re-test… you’ll probably be much better off and symptom free.
^If you aren’t, then it might make sense to pursue TRT.
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My training/diet has actually been very on point for the past 6-8 months. I’ve lost 20 pounds while dramatically increasing all my lifts, and this was after being back at it for 4 months following a long layoff.
As far as TRT, yes this is something that I didn’t go into blindly and that is still a last resort for me. According to the staff I spoke with at the clinic I went to, their treatment plan would not have the long-term effects of traditional TRT as they don’t just pump you full of t but rather address various other hormonal issues to keep everything balanced. And yeah the level I gave was in ng/dl, the typical unit of measurement. As far as everything else, it was all where it should be when I got my blood work back.
If they’re giving you exogenous testosterone, your balls will shut down. Period.
I don’t think you should pursue TRT, and I think this clinic is one step above being “the big dude in the gym with the hookup”. Please don’t trust whatever snake oil they’re selling.
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No, I’ve actually had the low sex drive for longer, mostly just not getting turned on when it comes down to doing the deed if ya know what I mean. But ok this is something I hadn’t considered since I’ve been cutting for about 5 months now. I want to drop another 7 lbs. then do a slow bulk so I’ll just follow the process and reevaluate in another 3 months after that. Thank you
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I don’t have all the info with me but it’s something I would definitely look into more thoroughly before I even considered it. Right now I’m just kind of in a process of elimination as far as causes and deciding what my next step will be.
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There is a difference between 500+ and 800 ng/dL. Below are hospitalization rates for those with covid-19.
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Wow.
I’d love to know the name of the “doctor” you’re dealing with. This is malpractice in spades.
Any amount of test will shut you down. I would go off asap. This isn’t the road you need.
I’ve been on TRT for almost 5 years now, because my pituitary gland is a mess. I tested repeatedly around 200 TT. Did they even give you more than one TT blood test (which i believe is protocol out of Merck manual).
I’ve had test levels well over 800 and still haven’t found a libido. Test isn’t a cure all, and yours is FINE without test. Please heed the feedback of this thread.
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how many hours of cardio with a heart rate around 140 you do a week?
low sex drive can be caused by a large number of things.
Maybe it is preventing you from gaining muscle as good as if you were on a gram of test, but the difference between 500 and 800 wont be noticable too much.
Thats because you probably havent sticked to a diet, and calculated caloric restriction with same foods for 6+ months.
First goes the glycogen which makes us look flat. Then you lose the pump, and the fugly stage kicks in when you look smaller and therefore also fatter. Exactly the same happens when you are on a full blown steroid blast.
What you do is - hold on and just grind through it.
If you dont have a strict meal plan that hasnt been compromised for months, you basically havent been cutting, you have been yo-yo dieting, which is the worst thing one can do and can lead to the problems you described.
Most people overestimate their muscle. Inexperienced guys will stop the cut thinking they lose muscle while they never had it in the first place. If you are fat enough that you need a cut, take the number of lbs you think you need to lose, and then double or sometimes triple it to know the approximate number of lbs youll need to lose.
Most “muscle” on guys who already need to cut, is fat. It was never muscle in the first place.
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You can pretty much eliminate that clinic for starters. They are taking advantage of your ignorance. Yes, you are ignorant but that doesn’t mean you’re stupid as you are here seeking out the proper info. First, you don’t likely need TRT but if you are interested then learn the terminology and proper processes. Spend some time reading to become your own advocate. Once armed, get real labs and come back to post comprehensive results.
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Watching porn can mess up your drive so if you are doing that, definitely stop. I feel way better after a month of no porn. Then like 3 days in a row of relapsing and watching filthy garbage I can’t really get turned on too easy. Dopamine is really what controls the drive itself. In today’s world all we do is instantly deplete it with social media and excessive stimuli.
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Did you ever take things like finasteride, accutane, ssri’s,…?
What trtguy23 above is saying is super accurate.
Porn is really bad for arousal. It really doesn’t affect libido though.
You’re always gonna see good looking women and wanna lay them (libido), but when the times comes (no pun intended), you won’t get that arousal you’ll need, due to overexposure of porn.
Porn has a way of rewiring your dopamine circuitry in that normal, human sex becomes stale and doesn’t elicit the arousal response you’d normally have. Now you need to watch gangbangs to get aroused. And then comes into play the psychological aspect, which further adds to the issue.
Quit porn and never look back. And yes, it’s hard (again, clearly no pun intended)
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Literally what is the point with this? Lol, they want your money. Take a perfectly normal guy but now CHARGE him to be normal. Genius
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You can have a Total T at 600 ng/dL, low Free T but for that to be true you would need high SHBG.
No, you qualify for TRT at this clinic because they see someone that they can make money off of.